‘The Mandalorian’ finally gives an obscure ‘A New Hope’ favorite a moment in the spotlight

This article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian season 3, episode 2

Some Star Wars characters never get a chance to be heroes, but 45 years after he made his debut in A New Hope, one beloved but obscure character has finally gotten a chance to shine in The Mandalorian.

This is R5-D5, the red and white astromech droid that Luke and Uncle Owen initially purchased from the Jawas in A New Hope. However, just as R5 was rolling towards his new owners, his motivator blew, causing Luke to choose R2-D2 instead.

That tiny moment changed the course of galactic history, if R5 hadn’t malfunctioned, Luke wouldn’t have seen Leia’s distress call, would have no reason to seek out Obi-Wan, and may have remained on Tatooine to eke out a life as a moisture farmer. And without Luke to blow up the first Death Star and turn Vader back to the light, it’s doubtful that the Galactic Empire would’ve fallen.

R5 has previously appeared in The Mandalorian in Peli Motto’s workshop, but in “The Mines of Mandalore,” he actually gets to go out into the field. As an old droid used to staying within the secure confines of Motto’s workshop, a trip to the legendarily inhospitable Mandalore clearly makes him nervous. Despite his obvious droidly misgiving, he scouts ahead alone, survives an attack by an Alamite gang, successfully analyzes the atmosphere, and is then key to helping Grogu navigate his way to Bo-Katan for help.

All of which means it’s finally time to raise a toast to “the other astromech droid,” as R5 can now claim to have had his own big adventure through the galaxy. Whether he’ll stick around for future episodes remains to be seen, but while he’s not the most reliable or powerful droid we’ve seen in Star Wars, he’s got it where it counts.

The Mandalorian airs Wednesdays on Disney Plus.